


time cast a spell on you

by sansapotter



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 22:23:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12591832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansapotter/pseuds/sansapotter
Summary: Jeyne told her about the spell, stick two pins in a white candle and once it burns down to the second your true love will walk through the door.If the tools were harder to find, or if it did anything more than draw her true love through the door she would have been too frightened. Last year they’d played with an Ouija board, and even though she knew Arya was moving the planchette she still jerked away in terror. This wasn’t too far from reading her horoscope in Seventeen every month.





	time cast a spell on you

**Author's Note:**

> My submission for the @jonxsansafanfiction All Hallows Week day 6: Magic  
> I’ve been reading a lot of Alice Hoffman, and the candle thing is 100% from her books, but I thought it really suited the mood and the day :) Title from my favorite Fleetwood Mac song (Silver Spring), because again, mood.

Sansa only felt a little foolish sticking the long white candle with pins, only two of them, but still, slightly foolish even at twelve. She pressed on, knowing that when her true love walked through the door she wouldn’t be laughing, and she was so eager to fall in love. Jeyne told her about the spell, stick two pins in a white candle and once it burns down to the second your true love will walk through the door.

If the tools were harder to find, or if it did anything more than draw her true love through the door she would have been too frightened. Last year they’d played with an Ouija board, and even though she knew Arya was moving the planchette she still jerked away in terror. This wasn’t too far from reading her horoscope in Seventeen every month.

She knew it was smartest to start in the morning, it wouldn’t do to have someone show up at their door at midnight. She snuggled into her bed, and dreamt of a stranger coming to their door, swearing his undying devotion to her, he’d be like a knight in a fairytale. She woke at 8, and eagerly lit the candle, then went down stairs to get breakfast. Mama always made chocolate chip pancakes on the weekends, and Sansa would sit with Robb, Arya and Bran to watch Saturday morning cartoons.

That day in October was no different from the rest, only she kept making excuses to run back up and see how far the candle had burned, until Robb called her out on how many times she ran up to the bathroom. Sansa got a second stack of pancakes and settled in. It was noon before there was a knock at the door, and when Robb went to answer it she dashed back to her room to see that the candle had just passed the second pin. 

She hurried down the steps, “Robb who was at the-“ when she turned into the living room it was only Jon Snow, and that wasn’t anything new. Jon smiled at her when she rounded the corner, the same sad eyed smile everyone received. Soon he’d stand up and go to the kitchen and offer to help wash up from breakfast, even though he was a guest and her mother always declined the offer. Other than that he always stuck close to Robb, she didn’t know if he even had interests of his own. She sighed, it was silly, magic wasn’t real, because she certainly couldn’t be fated to her brother’s shadow.

The thought buried itself like a seed in her mind, as time passed she fell in love, or at least she thought she did. There were moments when Joffrey was cruel to her, or Harry was flirting with another girl that she thought, _what about Jon Snow_? Would he laugh at her opinions too, like Joffrey did? Would he date her just to keep her on his arm until someone prettier came along, like Harry did? Gods but it was so silly to even think about, she and Jon were only blips on one another’s radars. There was no reason for her to even think about Jon like that, and if she hadn’t done that silly spell more than ten years ago she wouldn’t even be thinking like this in the first place. 

Sansa started to dabble with magic again, well and truly this time, when she was with Joffrey. She never did anything to him in particular, rather she found spells to protect herself from his bad temper, and eventually found one to give herself the courage to leave him. She had done a truth spell on Harry, she hid the orange rinds and peppercorns in the back of her sock drawer, and while the spell worked she found out he was sleeping with several women. She suspected it, but it hurt to know the truth.

If she hadn’t been drawn to the worst sorts of men maybe the idea of Jon would have remained a seedling, but instead it bloomed. After her breakup with Joffrey, despite her charms, he called her at all hours of the night. Sometimes when she went to the market he would follow her, jeering at her until she started to use the Prime Pantry option on Amazon. He backed off a little when she started to see Harry, probably because Harry could have taken him out if he wanted to.

Of course with Harry, he didn’t really care that much. If Joff had actually shown up and talked to her he might not have noticed at all. Sansa tried harder to keep Harry’s attention, moving in with him as soon as he suggested. She blew through most of her monthly budget maintaining her appearance, her nails were brittle and weak now from the acrylics. One of the first things she did after their break up was wait two weeks before shaving. She woke up in a cold sweat some nights thinking about the most regrettable thing she’d done, worrying that one morning she’d log on to Facebook and see the scantily clad pictures she’d sent to him when they were together.

She moved back to Winterfell after that breakup, to her parents house, to her old room. Her thoughts were all over the place, self-doubt stronger than anything else. She wanted to feel safe, and important, but wasn’t that what got her in this mess in the first place? She depended on someone else’s valuation of her. The first month she wouldn’t leave the house, it was January, so she could let people think it was because of the cold. 

Months passed before she started going with her mother to the store, Catelyn went weekly, but Sansa would push herself to go once. Sometimes she would volunteer to pick the kids up from school, or to take everyone to their practices. Slowly she started to make decisions again, without a heavy cloud of doubt hovering over her. Sansa wouldn’t look over to make sure her brothers were ok with her choice of movie. She knew she would probably always startle if the door was slammed, but now he could walk to the store by herself, and once she was able to log onto Facebook without a sense of foreboding she knew she was healing.

The candles in the dining room called to her when she passed. It was silly, but the seed was there. If it were really Jon, if he were to walk through the door again, coincidence or not she might feel brave enough to try. He would make her feel safe, like when she stayed at the library too late and he walked her home, pretending to have left something over the house that couldn’t wait to be retrieved. His wrist bumped against hers.

“I’m glad you’re back,” He was looking at her when he said it, unguarded; her cheeks warmed at it.

“I’m glad I’m back too,” She nudged him back.

Sansa took one of the candlesticks into the living room, and plucked two pins from her sewing kit. It was seven in the evening, just after dinner, and she thought to herself _if I do this again I won’t have any questions about coincidence._ She stuck the pins, then lit the wick and waited. If Jon didn’t show up, and what reason would he have so late, then she could press on with her life. _But if he did…_ no, she wouldn’t let herself consider it.

She read her book, turned the channels, switched over the laundry, anything to keep herself from watching the candle. It was nearly midnight when the candle melted past the second pin, and she wouldn’t allow herself to identify the sinking of her heart.

There was a knock though. She slid across the tile floor in the foyer, and when she threw open the door she wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Jon standing there.

“Hey,” he said, trying to seem casual with his hands in his pockets. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“No, not at all,” she moved to the side, inviting him in with overly bright eyes, “I was just waiting.”

“Waiting on what?”

“You,” she smiled, leaning against the arch in the living room, tipping her chin up to look at him when he came to stand before her. 

“Me?” Jon wondered, pressing his forearm above her head. “How’d you know I’d come?”

“Magic,” she said, pulling him to her.

**Author's Note:**

> my [tumblr](https://www.sansapotter.tumblr.com)


End file.
